By: Nathan Strauss, Shaun Henry, and Lucillia M

Morose:

And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
Was the hardest part


Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out


Was letting go not taking part
You really broke my heart
And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything


Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do it just comes undone
And everything is torn apart
Oh and thats the hardest part

-"The Hardest Part"- Coldplay

Explanation: Characteristics of morose can be found in the beat and the lyrics of this song. The line, "Everything I do it just comes undone" certainly seems to show a unhappy and melancholy feel to what the artist is saying, especially, when combined with the somber tone of the music accompanying the lyrics. Several times during the song, certain words are dragged out to give the feeling of unhappiness.
And the hardest part...Was letting go not taking part...Was the hardest part- These opening lyrics of the song set the morose tone by starting and ending with the "hardest part." This gives the feeling that the singer is upset and dwells on the gloomy event. "Was letting go not taking part" shows that the dejection is more depressing because it was self inflicted and something that of which is not easy to let go.
Oh and I...I wish that I could work it out- Saying "Oh" supports the narrator's feeling of woe. When we are depressed we tend to wish we had done something differently which is stated in the next line of the song.
Was letting go not taking part...You really broke my heart...And I tried to sing...But I couldn't think of anything- The tone of morose is clear in this section because the line "Was letting go not taking part" was repeated, stressing that the sad feelings linger and deepening the mood. "You really broke my heart" is a melancholy feeling that everyone can associate with, making the tone more obvious. "And I tried to sing...But I couldn't think of anything" again shows that the singer is torn by not being able to do anything right.
Everything I know is wrong...Everything I do it just comes undone...And everything is torn apart...Oh and thats the hardest part- The first line of this stanza -- "Everything I know is wrong" -- shows his distress in failing. "Everything I do it just comes undone" again leads to understanding and supportiong why the song has a morose tone. The depressing emotions are finally sumed up with the last two lines "And everything is torn apart...Oh and thats the hardest part" -- discomfort is certain where it says "torn apart."
The musicial accompaniment throughout the line "Everything I do it just comes undone" includes a piano part which adds to the melancholy mood -- it has a softer and less energetic sound. When the lines are sung, they accend in pitch only to drop to lower notes starting with the words: "is torn apart". This drop to a lower pitches expresses the sad feeling as one that worsens.


Attention to detail is superb! This may be the best analysis of lyrics and tone I have had the pleasure to read so far! Kudos...

Ironic:
An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late


It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought ... it figures


And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face


It's a traffic jam when you're already late
It's a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

-"Ironic"- Alanis Morissette

Explanation: The entire song, which itself is called "Ironic," describes a plethora of things that can plainly be described as ironic. The song starts off lines with something pleasant, typically turning them into an unforeseen misfortune in the end. The events mentioned are very coincidental, and when combined with the sing-songy tone of the music, seem to add a sort of 'disapointing' tone to the song. Nevertheless, the lyrics are intentionally ironic.
An old man turned ninety-eight...He won the lottery and died the next day...It's a black fly in your Chardonnay...It's a death row pardon two minutes too late- Each of these different events -- winning the lottery and dying, a fly in your expensive wine, a pardon for a crime after the man has been executed -- shows outcomes that end up contrary to what should have occured. The first and second parts of each line have opposite meanings -- winning and dying, a low-life and high class, a pardon and death. In the incongruity of the statements comes some kind of humor.
The line "It's a death row pardon two minutes too late" perfectly shows ironyin this song. Morissette's voice fluctuates with each word, giving stress to the word 'pardon'. Then as she reaches the word 'late', her voice softens significatly in accordance with the event. This lyric is accompanied by an acoustic guitar, which elegantly plays crisp chords that vary in scale. This helps to give feeling to the words and the sense of irony in them.
It's like rain on your wedding day...It's a free ride when you've already paid...It's the good advice that you just didn't take...Who would've thought ... it figures- Again we see opposite and unnecpected instances happening. They can be described as a satire because of the mockery in ending up on the path of unfortunate mishaps. "Who would've thought" is the singer's stance in which she agrees that the events are unexpected. "It figures" shows humor in this as though the bad events would have happened anyway without justification.
And life has a funny way of helping you out when...You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up...In your face- The line "and life has a funny way of helping you out when" shows that the singer finds comedy in the turns-of-events described. "You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up" helps to show that things are not always expected. Her use of "in your face" tells us that its is usually ouselves that get the most grief from irony.
It's a traffic jam when you're already late...It's a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break...It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife- Moreover, Morissette establishes irony with more events in juxapositon with contrasting ones.

Again, this group really exceeded the expectations of this project! What sophisticated and meaningful interpretations!

Reflection: Luci Mason
-"Gone Too Soon"- Michael Jackson
Like the loss of sunlight
On a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon

Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight
Here one day
Gone one night

Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon


Analysis:
Like the loss of sunlight
On a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon

I chose this line because it gives a sense of what Michael Jackson is feeling about this loss he has recently suffered. He is comparing his loss to a bright beautiful sunny day becoming a cloudy day in as quick as an instant
Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight
Here one day
Gone one night

In this line, it is clear that when he says here one day gone one night, he is reflecting on how Ryan, the one who died, was here doing fine then the next day he was gone forever. He also describes what he believes we as people are here on the earth to do, throughout this entire song he is reflecting on different aspects of life that compare to the loss of his dear friend.
Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon

This is the closing line of his song, in this line he directly talks about death and indirectly compares it to Ryan's death. He is using the sunset as a way to describe in depth how it was when Ryan died.

As a huge MJ fan, I am pleased to see how you are able to dissect this somewhat obscure song and make it relevant!